simonlorden's Reviews (1.38k)

a truly beautifully written book about a horrible topic. the parts in the conversion camp made me so mad and sad and all these kids need a hug.

i liked the ending, although i kind of wish we had seen a bit more of the kids' journey and the book ended somewhat later.

I loved the first half and I liked the ending, but unfortunately there was a big chunk between the two that was just... boring

a grumpy bisexual godkiller (and an ex-knight, now baker-bard) accidentally adopt a magical highborn girl. this is a bit like the witcher only with less misogyny and more queerness. that is to say, it was exactly my jam.

the blackmail plot was so thin i wonder why it was even there, although i have to admit the conclusion scene was amazing. the romance was delightful though. likeable characters, so much art, and pretty magic.

p.s. i would normally cut Elizabeth more slack for taking so long to realize Coxley is in love with Arthur, since it's the 1920s and all. but woman, you have multiple gay friends. you really had to ask him why he would not be feeling 100% happy and content at Arthur's wedding to a woman?? girl

the insignificant third-born princess who doesn't have any power goes on a quest to save the sister that doesn't even like her. this whole cast was delightful, but Agnes is the best. she was just doing her best.

it's definitely horror though. there's dancing teeth and all.

fascinating worldbuilding and really cute romance. Sorina is an illusionist whose illusion creations are her family - but they have their own personalities, likes and desires, just like real people, which is really interesting. the traveling city of the Gomorrah Festival has many other magic-makers, and also some deep secrets. 

overall, the worldbuilding was nice, the romance was great, the characters were also nice (Luca my love) and the plot was... okay. it's also occasionally distressing, since the plot is Sorina's family being murdered, and half of her family is kids. ouch.

the main character Sorina is bisexual, although it's only mentioned a couple of times since she hasn't really dated much. the love interest Luca is demiromantic and asexual, although those words aren't used.

also Luca is the best.

this was so cheesy and unserious. cute though

this was scarier than i imagined, and also very beautiful and heartfelt and so so sad. ouch.

I received an ARC through NetGalley - my review is voluntary and honest.

"I changed your diapers when you were a baby and I'm going to change them again when you're too old to remember who I am."

Aftermarket Afterlife raises the stakes to a level that I don't think we've seen in this series before. Most of this book felt like I was being ping-ponged between different family crises, which to be fair is probably how Mary feels. All of these people from Alice downward are Mary's kids, and she'll be damned if she ever lets them forget it.

So, this book was... chaotic. It's also very much the 13th book in a series - usually an Incryptid book focuses on one subset of the family, but this one connected everyone, and there were so many cameos from side characters from all the past plotlines that for once I was actually glad for the recaps that I'm usually annoyed by. 

I loved seeing all the Consequences for past plotlines, but there were also downsides to this "preparing for war" book. Namely, I'm not really sure how much higher the stakes can go at this point, how much higher we can take this series before it feels like "we defeated God but then God's more powerful evil brother showed up".

I also loved that this was a Mary book, which meant some neat ghost adventures, starlight and all, and Mary dealing with her afterlife changing a major way after the crossroads disappeared. She has her family, but the Rules have changed, and in fact they are still changing, and she might not like the way they end up.

Still, another downside of all the adoptions and new kids is that, well... the family has grown too large. This book definitely deals with that too. Fucking ouch.

Overall, this was a difficult book to read, and it made me uncertain about my will to continue reading the series. But it still had enough things I loved that I'll probably find myself coming back anyway.